electedasa republican, for what that is worth. he felt he had to defer to the power and authority of the legislature to run pennsylvania elections. the supreme court, when they got that ruling, they sent it right back. they said that voting was a fundamental right and the judge would not be obligated to block the law unless -- sorry, missing a word here -- not disenfranchisement of voters. that was the strict order from the supreme court and he had no choice but to block all law. host: what has been the reaction in pennsylvania? who is going to benefit from this? caller: democrats have been very concerned that this would reduce turnout, especially among the elderly. they held up as a big victory. the republicans are basically trying to make sure that the law takes effect next year, not this year. they are looking to the future. host: as we look forward, do you expect this ruling to go to the supreme court before the election? could there be a change? or is this really what is going to happen? host: -- caller: theoretically it is possible that the ruling could be appealed to the su

in the past. they just upsettheelectionsforsome of the candidates. i just think they will be more relevant in the future. as the tea party is not able to help out with the republicans, i think he will see a lot of people in the grass roots level leave the two parties and go to the third party. host: thank you for the call. jill stein just received a hundred $60,000 from the election commission because she is -- $160,000, she is out with a new web ad proclaiming with the green party is all about. [video clip] >> it is an end to unemployment, climate change and an end to corporate role. we are not talking spare change, we need a revolution. that is what we deserve it. what we do not deserve is pandering irresponsible [beep] passing itself off as campaigning. i cannot believe i said that, but that is how i feel. >> i am voting for jill stein. >> we need a green president. vote for jill stein. >> i am voting for jill stein. >> i am jill stein. i approve this message. host: dr. jill stein will be joining us later in the program. from the twitter page -- our question if you are just joi

bias has reached unprecedented levels inthiselectioncycles.and later, usa today reporter discusses why the nation's water costs have risen 32% since 2000. "washington journal" is next. host: as we look at the capitol, record high 38% of americans prefer that the same party control the presidency and congress, while a record low, 23%, say it would be better if the president and congress were from different parties. 33% say it doesn't make any difference to them. these findings are based on a gallup poll annual governance survey and are the basis for our discussion for the first 45 minutes of this edition of the "washington journal." good morning. today is saturday, september 29. we want to find out from you about divided government. are you in favor of it? would you prefer to see one party, two parties, three parties? one party versus divided government, your preferences is our topic for the first segment of the program. 202-585-3880 is our number for democrats. republicans can call us at 202-585-3881. independents, 202-585-3882. if you're calling outside the u.s., 202-585-3883. we'

changer. i think he willbeelectedandhe will be the greatest president in the history of the country. i could not even sleep last night. i thought it was a total home run. i am so fired up. everybody at the barbecue was so excited. i do not have the words to say -- i will turn it on like anything you have ever seen for the next five weeks. he will be the best president in history. host:next is ann, a president obama supporter. caller: good morning. i think exactly the opposite. i think mitt romney looked almost manic and his appearance. i have never seen him flailing his arms around. he told so many lies. he completely turned around all of the things he has been running on the for the past 18 months. he even through the tax policy away. he just changed everything. it was really unbelievable. i think many people looked at him being more aggressive. that is what they were rewarding. once people started paying attention to exactly why he said, they would see that his -- that he told so many lies and distorted what he was trying to say. i think the president look very presidential. he was n

get rid of every one of the incumbents, it's maybe not inthiselection, butif they don't get this country straightened out and get the economy straightened out, but just take one election in two years, if it's not better, get rid of every one of them and they will finally get the message. host: let's look at some national news stories. this story from the new york times -- and this other story in the times -- looking at other international news stories on long lines of what our last caller was talking about, whether international news is getting attention. and this in the washington post -- the debate tomorrow night will focus on domestic issues. what would you be listening for? if you're not going to watch, why? monty writes -- in new orleans on the republican line, eustice. caller: good morning. i don't know how anything can change. romney would have to come up with something. is way he's campaigning, like everything is a joke, but it's quite serious. when i met gingrich i said i hope the election is not lost by the republicans on the color line. it seems like it's almost over a

-elected. the left will do anything and everything to keep the left wing socialist. those are some of our facebook comments this morning. if you'd like to make a comment, continue the conversation on this topic. go to facebook.com/cspan. here's "the wall street journal" this morning. swing state, a tough sell for romney. obama has a slim lead in north carolina, nevada, wider margin in new hampshire. if you come down here, we can see that currently, according to "the wall street journal"/nbc poll, barack obama leads in nevada 49% to 47%. he leads in new hampshire 51% to 44%, and in north carolina 48% to 46%. however, two of the three states, north carolina and nevada, both think that mitt romney is stronger on the economy. so that's one set of polls. now, we've got this other set of polls we want to show you very quickly, and this is from rasmussen, and he does -- scott rasmussen's group, rasmussenreports.com, they do a daily tracking poll. for a long time now, they've been showing this race as even. right now, they're saying -- and this gets updated daily, about 9:30 in the morning -- and

the larger context of thepresidentialelectionbutgo ahead -- caller: the unemployment drop of 7.8% is wonderful. however, i think it is deceiving. like myself and quite a few other people, i was on unemployment. i am no longer receiving unemployment because it ran out. i am working now. i am working in the mortgage industry which i was laid off from. in manufacturing, there are ample amounts of manufacturing positions available. i'm no longer on unemployment. i was working in manufacturing and receiving food stamps because of the amount they are paid in that sector. host: what type of manufacturing is it to tex? caller: it is making parts for cars. host: tells about the physical aspect of the job. caller: the hours are wonderful, it is a full-time position. the job itself is the assembly o-rings on pistons for engines for cars and shipping them out. making $9 per hour and receiving food stamps and i could barely make my bills. host: a larger the company is it? caller: it is a small company. host: from twitter -- spencer, okla., good morning. caller: good morning. i am currentl

rights. but what about the city's rightstoelecttheirownelectedofficials?and i guess follow their own destiny? winnie's a government interference, i understand you are talking about the federal. but i heard mitt romney say states' rights. is it the right of the state to come into the cities and overthrow the local municipalities? if that is big government, small government. i do not know. i think they should have the right to control their own destiny in their own city. it is on the ballot in november. and i am telling everybody in michigan to a vote it down. we did not need dictatorship. it is a dictator bill. host: thank you. on twitter -- the government to do its job, maintain the general welfare. from debate news, the numbers are and on how many watched on television. more than 67 million watched the first presidential debate. nearly 16 more watched four years ago for about 12 of the 67 who watched president obama square off against mitt romney were between 18-34. fox news channel average 10.4 million viewers. a big improvement over 8.2. cnn clock about 6.1 million. this numbe

a lot of people stop and think. their parents are part ofthiselection. ifyouelectsomeoneinto the white house and give them control of congress, to be able to turn medicare into a voucher program, the effect that it's going to have downrange is horrible. i want to make another point. i am so tired of hearing the president had the congress for the first two years of his term. that is 100% incorrect. people need to educate themselves on how congress works. he had 60 votes until august when tent kennedy died. -- ted kennedy. then he had 59. a special election seat was triggered, the election with scott brown, that gave the republicans 41. then we lost senator byrd. that was another vote that we lost. so the president only had a senate for about eight months. in that eight months he was dealing with the worst recession since the great depression. so people need to educate themselves and stop going with these party lines of the democrats controlled congress two years and so on. there's only so much you can do. host: thanks for calling. this on twitter -- on facebook -- gary johnson